It's a kind of magic
by TitaniaSarys
Summary: Claire and Owen are teachers at Hogwarts. Shenanigans ensue. - It's been a long time since I read the Harry Potter books guys (same for the films) so, if I get something wrong, I'm truly sorry. You're welcome to tell me when I'm wrong about the HP lore or where I forgot something, but if you do so, please be polite and respectful.
1. Chapter 1

As per usual, it was early in the morning when Claire woke up. Years working for the Ministry of Magic had somehow conditioned her to wake up on her own at a very specific hour, which was helpful with her current position as Charms' Professor at Hogwarts. Two years prior, Professor Flitwick left Hogwarts and Claire was asked personally by McGonagall to replace him despite her young age and her lack of experience as a teacher. Of course, Claire did her best to get ready before the new school year started, spending her entire summer with the Headmistress and giving various free classes around the county to gain some experience (although, it seemed to a lot of people like it wouldn't be enough and a lot of her former colleagues from the Ministry had laughed at her).

But here she was, two years after and getting ready for her third year as Professor. She was glad it wasn't her role this year to greet the new students. She had done that last year (McGonagall sparing her during her first year) and it had been one of the most draining days of her life. She loved her job as a teacher, loved the school and loved the kids, but managing that many young and excited children had been tough. She'd almost laugh at the way she had sometimes complained when she worked in the International Magic Cooperation department of the Ministry.

Once she was ready, she made her way out of her quarters and into her office on the first floor of the west wing. Her office was as tidy as ever, not a speck of dust, every book and parchment where it should be. Her white cat skittered past her on her way out, almost running to reach the outdoor grounds like it did every single morning. Claire had nothing against her cat roaming around the school during the day, she knew her pet to be fairly intelligent, she chose her specifically for that after all, but she insisted to have her in her quarters during the night.

She smiled as the bushy tail of her cat disappeared around the corner and locked her quarters and her office with a few simple spells. Seeing as she wasn't welcoming the first years that year, she made her way to the Great Hall to grab some light breakfast with the rest of the staff like every single morning. She enjoyed the presence of the other teachers and after those two years, they became a small family. Especially since some of them where friends from when she was herself a student at Hogwarts, all of those years ago.

The new students weren't arriving before late afternoon, so Claire had more than enough time to check everything she needed to check, like her schedule, the content of her classes, how the castle looked like after the summer (though she did avoid the grounds) and all sorts of other things before setting off for the Great Hall.

She was glad the castle had been repaired though after the fight against Voldemort. Seeing as she was already working for the Ministry at that time, she hadn't been at Hogwarts during the battle itself, but she had tried to help in any way she could, dealing with one crisis after the other in the International Magic Cooperation department. Seeing as she had graduated seven years before the famous Harry Potter did, Voldemort was finished only some four years ago and there was a lot to be done after all of that. She had been pretty busy at the Ministry during her last three years there and one of the reasons she took Minerva's offer was because she wanted to help shape the new generations of wizards and witches, wanted to make a safer world for them.

The first years, eyes all bright and full of excitement, were gathered in front of the doors leading to the Great Hall, leaving a small space for older students and teachers to go through. Claire easily spotted Zara, who was the one in charge of the school tour that year, and waved at her, to which her friend waved back.

Her friendship with Zara had started very early in their first year at Hogwarts. Despite the fact that Zara was in House Slytherin and Claire in House Ravenclaw, they quickly became friends and Claire didn't hesitate to sit next to her in class, which surprised most people, seeing that Ravenclaw students often stayed in groups and rarely mingled with the other houses. Claire never told the others that the Sorting Hat almost put her in Slytherin, which could explain why she had such a great connection with Zara.

Claire could have walked a little longer to avoid crossing the Great Hall (there was a door behind the teacher's table for the staff's use only after all) but she wanted to take the fastest route and take a look at the new students. She was about to squeeze herself between the group of first years and the door, when she heard a loud "Aunt Claire!" and someone slammed into her so fast, she didn't have the time to take her wand out of her pocket and cast a spell of protection. The person holding her tightly as if their life depended on it was none other than Gray Mitchell, her younger nephew.

One of the difficulties she had encountered during her first year as a teacher was to teach her older nephew Zach, who back then was in fourth year. She had tried to remain impartial and treat him like everybody else, but every single student knew they were related and made fun of Zach because of that, "teacher's pet" being one of the nicest things they said, even if Zach was only average in Charms. Fortunately, as most things like that in school did, the other students stopped making fun of him because of that three months later. It took Claire some time, but she was now proud to say that she was completely not biased when it came to Zach now. For instance, last year, she had taken his house twenty points for a commentary he did, being the sulking teenager he had become. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Claire was from Ravenclaw and Zach was in Gryffindor.

She knew Zach didn't have it easy at Hogwarts because he was related to a teacher, but especially because he was a half-blood. As far as Claire knew, the Dearings had always been wizards and witches. Her parents had died during her second year at Howgarts (and Karen's seventh year) and the sisters had become even closer after that, spending the summers together at their uncles' and aunts' places, changing every year, sometimes even in the middle of the summer. But Scott, Zach and Gray's father, was a Muggle who knew about the wizarding world but didn't really care.

Claire patted Gray on the head, hugged him back and tried to pry him off of her because every single person around them was looking at them and she did not want her nephew to be laughed at the first day. "Hi Gray, I'm glad to see you as well, but you really have to go back to your group."

It's only then that Gray seemed to realize was he was doing and blushed, stepping back into the group and almost tripping on his robes. Claire smiled and promised him she would see him in the evening, and entered the Great Hall.

Most of the older students were already there, since they had to put their luggage in their rooms, all of them coming back from their summer vacations. She spotted Zach at the Gryffindor table, flirting with a girl named Molly from the same group of sixth years as him. She didn't wait for him to notice her presence, didn't even bother waving and instead, walked right through the middle of the room, all eyes turning on her.

It wasn't unusual for students to look at teachers the first day, since trying to figure out where their teacher had been on holidays really was a thing and Claire was no exception. She also was the only redheaded teacher in the school, which made her easily recognizable and one of the most strict ones at that (so a lot of students hid whenever she entered a room, she had stopped counting the points she had taken in her two years of teaching or the detentions she gave). Claire also always made a point of wearing the latest wizarding fashion she could get her hands on, but it always involved some kind of robes and high heels, something that could pass as "teacher's clothing" but that still was more stylish than what McGonagall wore (and Claire did give the older women the address of her tailor, many times already).

Zach had also told her once that the other students found her "hot" but she refused to acknowledge such commentaries.

All the chairs at the teacher's table were already taken besides two: her own and the one where the Care of Magical Creatures' teacher usually sat, thankfully, rarely next to her. The Sorting Hat was already in place in front of their table and she knew that as soon as Zara brought the first years to stand in front of the Hat, McGonagall would give them her Headmistress speech.

She was about to greet Lowery and Vivan, when someone walked past her and said rather loudly "Well, hello Claire! You look nice!"

And here Claire thought she could avoid Owen Grady until classes started.


	2. Chapter 2

Claire wondered if it was too late to teleport herself out of the Great Hall.

She knew Owen Grady would be there at dinner, but she kind of hoped he'd arrive late, just like he had the year prior. She had actually almost refused the position of Charms Professor when she had learned that Owen was already the Care of Magical Creatures Professor at Hogwarts. But she wasn't stupid enough to let such an opportunity pass because of a man that she had had one disastrous date with back when they were students.

A lot of things had changed since then. They both matured, were now independent and responsible adults that were truly passionate about their jobs. Or so Claire thought after meeting Owen Grady again. He was one of the few Professors arriving earlier, right in the middle of August to prepare the grounds for his classes and resume his caretaking of the various creatures at the school, which was growing every single year, Minerva seeing a true potential in Owen's class. He had greeted Claire properly, complementing her on her looks and especially on her career, laughing at his own lack of patience when it came to the Ministry (Owen had worked for three years in the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures department before realizing that kind of job didn't suit him).

Until he showed that some things never change and his stupid idea of a prank almost landed them both in the lake. Despite the ten years they hadn't seen each other (they had never crossed paths at the Ministry, working in different departments and both travelling a lot on the job), Owen had proven to her that he was still the goofy brat that didn't take himself seriously.

Which is why she simply said "Thank you and good evening to you too, Owen," and walked past him to her chair, so fast, her red hair seemed to fly behind her. But Owen didn't seem fazed and uncrossed his arms from his chest, making two quick strides to match her pace. Usually, some students, especially Gryffindor students, seeing as Owen was Head of House Gryffindor (of course he was), watched Owen's attempts at flirting, but they all seemed too busy telling each other their summer holidays to notice the antics of the two teachers.

"Did you spend the whole summer on a beach? 'Cause your skin looks really great, you know?" Owen said and Claire smiled, the kind of polite smile she gave every single person she met but Owen continued and matched her pace.

"You're not so bad yourself," she answered, which made Owen freeze because Claire had never returned him any of his compliments. She laughed at his surprised face and greeted Vivian, the Astronomy teacher and Lowery who was starting his first year as Transfiguration teacher. Owen didn't say anything, but that smug grin stayed on his face long after he sat at the end of the table, next to Barry, the Potions teacher who had also been in Gryffindor.

It didn't take long for all the older students to settle down and for the new ones to enter the Great Hall, all gathering near the teachers' table after they admired the magnificent and bewitched ceiling and floating candles. Gray's face could light up the entire room. Zara initiated the Sorting Hat ceremony and one by one, the new students sat on the chair.

Just looking at them, Claire could remember how it had felt to sit on that chair, to feel the Sorting Hat and the pressure it put on her shoulders. She remembered its thinking, the hesitation between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. She didn't have anything against either house and she didn't know what they stood for. The only thing she was certain of was that she wouldn't be in the same house as the other Dearing, her sister Karen who was in Hufflepuff.

Claire hadn't really been surprised when Karen told her Zach was in Gryffindor. She didn't spend a lot of time with her nephews back then but she couldn't imagine him in any other house than Gryffindor. Something in Zach just reminded her of Owen.

When it was Gray's turn, Claire held her breath and caught Zach's gaze across the room. She had spent two weeks with them that summer (she was really trying to be a better aunt, she really was), and so she had seen how mean teenager Zach could be to everyone, especially his loved ones, those he took for granted. But he was paying attention now and watched Gray's excited face as he sat wearing the Sorting Hat.

After what felt like an eternity, the Sorting Hat finally bellowed "HUFFLEPUFF" and Gray skittered to his new table, greeted by fellow students. Zach smiled before his focus shifted back to his friends. Claire couldn't help but smile too: of course Gray had to be in the same house as his mother. Claire couldn't wait to tell Karen and hear her thrilled reaction, although she was certain Gray would write her a letter that evening.

Claire wasn't the type to linger at the teachers' table, not because she didn't enjoy their company, but because she truly believed there were so many things she had to do. She had been called a workaholic so many times, she was almost using it to describe herself and she hated feeling like she was wasting her time. Which is why, the maximum time she spent at the teachers' table once dinner was finished was fifteen minutes. Of course, she found other moments in her schedule to grab a cup of coffee with the other members of the staff, either to figure some new project out, or just to spend time with them, but those were scheduled appointments, just like for every other student. Owen particularly loved to show up unannounced at her office to piss her off and throw her whole system off balance.

But today, she made an exception since she wanted to escort the Ravenclaws back to their common room and greet everyone properly. She was proud of all the students at Hogwarts that aced her subject or worked hard in it, but she had to admit that she was also proud of all her little ravens. Despite that, she never treated the students from her own house differently and took as much points from them, than from all the other houses (she was known as the teacher who took the most points from students).

She made sure to answer every question the new Ravenclaws might have, showed them her office and how they could contact her if they needed to. She was pleased to see that most of the older students seemed ready for the new school year (unlike Zach that she saw running after supplies during the last days of vacation at her sister's). Once every first year was assigned a room and went upstairs to meet their roommates, Claire took Zia to the side. She was particularly interested in the young woman's research about charms that she had conducted in the summer.

Zia Rodriguez, besides being the Ravenclaw Prefect for the fifth year in a row, was one of the most brilliant witches that stayed in Hogwarts after the Great War against Voldemort (Zia was in her second year during the war). Some even compared her to Hermione Granger and Zia hoped to actually meet her someday. She had spent her summer researching charms in the natural habitat of magical creatures after her hypothesis that some of those creatures were able to use magic. Claire had scoffed at the idea at first, but after reading some of the things Zia wrote, she got interested. Zia was absolutely crazy about dragons and wanted to work with them after her graduation, which is also why she spent a lot of time with Owen.

As much as she liked Zia, Claire wasn't really that much into dragons and so she cut the conversation short when Zia lost her during her explanation about dragons' nests.

"As much as I love talking to you, you should keep this research about dragons for Professor Grady."

Zia smiled, nodded and straightened her round glasses before telling Claire goodnight and retiring to her own room. Claire couldn't help but smile fondly at the young woman who was used to Claire's short patience when it came to subjects that didn't really interest her. It had taken Zia just two conversations with Claire to figure out how the older woman worked, what she was interested in and what would lead to a very short conversation with clipped and uncomfortable answers. It wasn't that Claire was easy to read, far from that, but Zia could understand her because she was a little bit like her and because her silence and the reserve she sometimes had spoke so much more than Owen's loud laughter and easy smiles.

Claire's white cat was sitting by her office door by the time she arrived and she let her in then locked the door. She was half expecting Owen to be there as well, seeing as she has ditched him during dinner and quickly disappeared with her students afterwards. She knew he wouldn't give up, that this year would only be more intense. She was certain he'd try new things to woo her, new tricks and pranks to annoy her and new ways to make her life miserable.

But this year though, unlike the previous one, she didn't dread it. It was almost as if she was welcoming it. Her sister had advised her to settle down and to find a good wizard to start a family with. Claire and Karen were very different people and had completely different ways of living their lives. Karen had Zach when she was barely an adult, Gray had followed five years later and she was now facing a disastrous marriage. The only reason she hadn't divorced Scott yet was her pride and how she would look in front of the other old wizard pure blood families.

Claire sighed as she got to bed once she finished her night routine (because of course she had a night routine). She had spent enough evenings this summer doing her best to comfort Karen when she was crying her eyes out while Scott was drinking his ass off at the Leaky Cauldron to know that maybe, her sister wasn't the best person to give relationship advice. Besides, Claire was too busy with the new school year to think about romance.

"If it's bound to happen, then it'll happen. I'm not going to wait for a knight in shining armor to save me. I can save myself just fine," she whispered to the night as the soft purrs of her cat lulled her to sleep.


End file.
